The Unruly Immortals

"Creak, creak," the donkey cart's wheels turned incessantly, producing a grating, unpleasant noise.

"Dog-son, drop some scented oil on the wheels."

Li Huowang, lying on the donkey cart, said with effort. At that moment, his neck had just been stitched by Bai Lingmiao with an embroidery needle and covered with golden sore medicine, and now he couldn't sit up.

Before long, the creaking sound had diminished significantly. Li Huowang stared blankly at the sky, thinking about the events of the previous nights.

The trouble at Zhengde Temple had been dealt with, but his own troubles were just beginning.

In his eyes, it was Master Danyang, after becoming immortal, who had killed those Buddha figures.

But in the eyes of others, it was he, with a fierce and terrifying expression, who lunged forward, entering the bodies of the Buddhas and devouring them alive.

A world cannot have two perspectives, so one of the views he and they held must be false.

Li Huowang turned his head to look to the side, where Bai Lingmiao, her eyes wrapped in cloth, was gripping his hand tightly, unwilling to let go for even a moment.

Bringing his gaze back, Li Huowang looked towards the white clouds in the sky again, a bitter smile on his face.

Honestly, because of his condition, even Li Huowang himself didn't trust himself anymore.

Coupled with his bulging belly and bloodstained face, everything indicated that the one who acted was indeed himself, not Master Danyang.

"Could it be that Master Danyang has truly died? Is everything I imagined just a fantasy?"

This thought had only just appeared when Li Huowang quickly dismissed it.

"Just by my illness acting up, I couldn't possibly have easily dealt with those enormous Buddhas. Ultimately, it must be Master Danyang."

"No matter what he has become now, the key is he's still here, still watching over me," Li Huowang was very certain of this.

"It's just that I always thought it was him descending from heaven after becoming an immortal. Now it seems that he was actually acting through possessing my body."

"I had assumed that Master Danyang was protecting me, and this guess has been confirmed. But knowing him as I do, he would never offer his help out of kindness. His assistance definitely comes with another purpose."

Remembering the strangeness he felt that night, Li Huowang had a faint conjecture, and he scratched the soft palm with his finger.

"Tell me, has my temper become worse since we left Qingfeng Taoist Temple?"

"Not at all. Why would Brother Li ask such a question?"

Li Huowang touched the back of her hand lightly with his finger, not explaining further, just silently thinking, "Why am I asking this? Because I'm worried that Master Danyang, that bastard, isn't up to any good!"

Others might not say so, but Li Huowang himself felt a change in the way he dealt with people.

"Could that old thing Master Danyang be trying to revive himself through my body? So he protects me because it is equivalent to protecting his own body?" This terrifying conjecture made Li Huowang break out in a cold sweat.

However, he soon calmed down, as this was merely a guess.

Master Danyang definitely needed to be dealt with, but while the goal was clear, the key was how to do it.

Li Huowang felt completely clueless in this regard. The world was not like a game with everything clearly labeled; everything was unfamiliar, and he had to find his own way.

Having experienced the upheaval at Zhengde Temple, Li Huowang now dared not easily contact any other factions here, as even the most benevolent Buddhist temple had become so terrifying, who knows what the other places had turned into.

Yet, after much thought, Li Huowang realized that if he wanted to live in this cursed place, he couldn't avoid them.

As Li Huowang was pondering these things, the donkey cart gradually came to a stop, with the sound of rushing water coming from nearby.

"Brother Li, I'll go wash your clothes for you," Bai Lingmiao said. She gently pulled her hand away and picked up the blood-soaked robes from the donkey cart, heading towards the nearby stream.

The others weren't idle either, tacitly starting to gather firewood from the forest and beginning to cook.

Li Huowang could not sit up now; he could only judge everything happening around him by the sounds he heard.

Before long, the aroma of cooked food wafted over, and Li Huowang's stomach growled with hunger, his wounded body in desperate need of sustenance.

"Brother, let me feed you," Li Huowang felt someone propping him up, leaning against a fuzzy embrace.

Li Huowang had already learned the name of this woman, covered in black hair and resembling a black chimpanzee; her name was Chun Xiaoman.

The name was very easy to understand since she was born on the day of Xiaoman, so she was named Xiaoman. That's how casual farmers were when naming their daughters.

Using a spoon carved from wood, Xiaoman ladled up some horse meat soup and brought it to Li Huowang's lips.

One person quietly fed while another quietly ate. Since the incident occurred, Li Huowang found that the others seemed even more afraid of him.

Li Huowang could understand their fear; after all, staying with a man-eating monster would unsettle anyone's heart.

After eating his fill, Li Huowang whispered to Xiaoman, "Ask Bai Lingmiao to come back. If the robe cannot be thoroughly cleaned, don't bother washing it."

"Okay." Xiaoman gently laid Li Huowang down, placing the Heavenly Book under his head as a pillow.

After a short while, Bai Lingmiao returned, the blood-stained Taoist robe in her hand not returning to its original blue color.

"Drapping it over the donkey to dry, come and eat quickly, the food is getting cold."

"Mhm," Bai Lingmiao softly acknowledged, then crouched down to check Li Huowang's wound carefully before she walked towards the campfire.

"Clatter clatter clatter"—the familiar sound of horse hooves approached from afar.

The voice arrived before the person. "Aiyo, aiyo! Taoist Master! So you are here! I thought I would never find you!"

When Top Scholar Lv's wrinkled old face appeared, Li Huowang knew that Lv's Troupe had followed them.

"Aiyo, what happened to you, what happened..." He saw Li Huowang's distressing state.

"It's nothing, just some minor troubles on the road. Do you need something?"

"Taoist Master, why did you leave without a word? Weren't we supposed to travel together? Thankfully, you mentioned you were exiting the pass; otherwise, I truly couldn't have found you," said Top Scholar Lv with an apologetic smile.

He couldn't afford to lose a free bodyguard he had found with such difficulty.

"I apologize, Band Leader Lv, I am injured, so let's not reminisce. Please make yourself comfortable."

"Ah, ah, rest easy, rest easy." Top Scholar Lv didn't ask any further questions. Having traveled around for so many years, he knew all too well that the more one knew, the more dangerous it could be.

Seeing that the day was drawing to a close, both groups decided not to leave, as the nearby stream was convenient for washing and water supply.

Li Huowang, unable to sleep, silently watched the stars in the sky, thinking about the day's events.

Suddenly, he felt some movement on his right side.

Before Li Huowang could react, a soft, petite body silently lay down in his arms, shivering with cold.

Smelling the familiar fragrance, Li Huowang extended his right hand and gently patted the back, "It's okay, leave everything to me, just leave everything to me."